Sir Handel and the Ghost Engine
by DonaldDouglasandToby6
Summary: In this spooky tale, Sir Handel believes ghosts are nonsense. Will he change his theory? Rated K-plus for scarier themes.


One Halloween night, Sir Handel was at the Transfer Yards with Skarloey and Rusty. Skarloey was about to tell them a story.

"This story is about a ghost. He didn't have a name. Just a number: 20056." Sir Handel just scoffed.

"Pah! What nonsense! There's no such things as ghosts! All just silly make-believe and nonsense. After all, ghosts were only invented to entertain people. Why do you think there are some many pop culture ghosts?" Skarloey chuckled.

"Oh, that's not the case, Sir Handel. Ghosts are indeed real. You'll found out some day."

"Do you mean today?" Rusty joked and he and Skarloey laughed as Sir Handel fumed.

"Well if you're going to tell a cheesy ghost story, get on with it!"

Skarloey sighed and looked at Rusty.

"It's not worth bothering with him..." and Skarloey started his story.

"A long, long time ago, there was a cocky tank engine that that used to live in the mines on his line. One day, the engine was to take some trucks to the Docks. But then, there was trouble. There was a sharp curve in the hillside and the rails buckled due to hot sun earlier that day. The workmen had forgotten to put up flags. 20056 crashed through the fence and fell off of the cliff. The crew jumped out, just in time. But they never wanted to drive an engine again. The engine was never found again. Some workmen say that he still haunts the mines as a warning to others, whistling about with a loud 'Peep!'"

When Skarloey was finished, Sir Handel laughed.

"That was the cheesiest story I've ever heard! And considering the stories you tell, that's saying a lot. The last one you told us was one about a leprechaun and gold. How silly was that!" and he went to take a goods train to the Wharf.

Rusty looked up, noticed the sunset, and grinned at Skarloey.

"He'll be in trouble soon. It's getting dark, and he's going to the Mines, and you know what that means," he whispered. Skarloey said nothing, which was quite unusual for him.

"What's wrong?" asked Rusty worriedly.

"Nothing," Skarloey quickly said and he puffed away to the Blue Mountain Quarry.

"That's strange," thought Rusty and he set off with a train of empty trucks.

Later, at the Wharf, Duncan was shunting some trucks full of bricks.

"Ugh, the Thin Controller knows I hate goods work, and what does he give me? Goods work!"

Colin was getting irittated. "Stop complaining, Duncan! It's not proper." replied Colin.

"Pah! Ya know I hate goods work."

"I know, and the Thin Controller does too, but everybody has to do goods work at some point."

Duncan rolled his eyes just as Sir Handel arrived with his goods train. Colin was pleased to see him.

"Just in time!" he called. Sir Handel snorted.

"Good for me..." he grumbled and he puffed over to Duncan.

"Hey Duncan. Skarloey told me a story. Should I believe it?"

"Eh, it's hard to say really. Skarloey may be pulling your wheels. He does that to me too. It's possible it's real though." replied Duncan.

"Oh, no... Not you too! Why does everybody believe ghosts these days? They were only made by regular people!"

"I never said I believed in ghosts, I just said it was a possibility."

"Exactly! Besides, what about that firefly ghost thingy you saw on the viaduct? What about that?" Duncan sighed.

"I heard that was just a joke from Bertram. I think you were on the Talyllyn Railway at the time."

Sir Handel lost patience and went to collect some trucks from a siding to take to the mines.

"Stop, Sir Handel! Be careful of the ghosts! The mines are their favorite place!" called Duncan cheekily.

"Very funny..." said Colin.

"Yeah, it is isn't it?" grinned Duncan and he set to work.

Meanwhile, Sir Handel wasn't amused.

"Pah, ghosts..." Sir Handel muttered.

As Sir Handel made his way, he could see shadows in the night, and was a tiny bit scared. The fog started to roll in, making things look spooky. He glanced at an old mine to see if there was anything there. But there was nothing except for a few abandoned buildings.

"Ha! I knew it! There's nothing here!" His wheels pounded the rails as he puffed along, quite pleased with himself.

"Can't wait to tell the others that they are no such things as ghosts!"

Soon, he arrived at the mines.

"I don't see anything..." Sir Handel puffed to himself, "But I do hear a clank. Must be that door over there." He looked and saw the wind banging about an old door on an old mansion.

Suddenly, wind whirred around Sir Handel's wheels.

"What on Sodor was that?" he gasped. He looked around and once again, saw nothing.

Just then, a ghostly whistle was heard and Sir Handel stopped right in his tracks.

"Hullo? Is anybody there?" he asked, startled.

The whistle was heard again, this time nearer. An engine appeared to be in the distance and was heading straight towards him. Sir Handel was shocked.

"B-b-bust my buffers! It's... It's... the ghost engine! Help!" He raced backwards as fast as his wheels would let him.

Sir Handel raced off to the sheds to find his and blew his whistle.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Duncan yawned.

"Ugh, Sir Handel... It's almost midnight! I was dreaming..."

"And why are you so pale?" asked Rusty.

"I saw a ghost! It was see-through and had this terrible whistle!"

"Calm, down... You were probably just hallucinating. Don't worry." said Duke. The other engines couldn't help but snicker.

"Wow, Sir Handel... A ghost? What's next?" chuckled Luke.

"Maybe a banana!" replied Bertram and they laughed.

"It's not funny!" grumbled Sir Handel, "I did see a ghost! I swear!"

"Like I said, it was probably just a hallucination," Duke said and winked at Rusty. Rusty smiled back as Sir Handel puffed into the shed.

"Can you just get to sleep Sir Handel? There's nothing out there," said Peter Sam.

"Are you sure? I saw something!"

"Well, we are all accounted for here, so..." Rheneas said, then paused. He looked at Skarloey who promptly chuckled.

"Whether or not the story's true doesn't matter right now. Let's just get some sleep!"

Sir Handel soon calmed down, but he kept his eyes open the rest of the night, just in case.

After that, Skarloey nor Rusty ever bothered to tell Sir Handel that the story was true.


End file.
